Content Area(s): Physical Science Topic: Speed of light Short description: Scientists at an international research facility in Switzerland found that neutrinos can travel between two points 60 billionths of a second faster than light.
Claim: Neutrinos may travel faster than light.
Keywords: neutrino, speed of light Difficulty of Concept: Hard
MS-ETS1 Engineering Design
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy
RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations descriptions.
RST.6-8.8 Distinguish among facts and reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational text to support analysis, reflection and research.
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions(one-on-one, in groups, teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Vocabulary Words: nanosecond
Topic of Game Introduction Video: Theory Description/Application of Game Introduction Video:
This brief movie is used to introduce the concept of the amount of evidence needed to support a claim before playing the scenario about Einstein's theory concerning the speed of light in the Reason Racer game. Evidence is generally thought to be information that supports or refutes a claim or statement. It is a component of scientific argumentation and usually involves use of facts, opinions, data and theories to support a claim. It requires students to carefully consider what information is provided when making a decision about accepting or rejecting a claim. Students could discuss how facts, opinions, data and theories differ and how they can be used best in support of a claim. Link to Game Introduction Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUv5JqiLQWs
Full Text of Article:
In 1905, Albert Einstein suggested that the speed of light was a limit that nothing in the universe could ever exceed. For over a century, all scientific experiments and observations have agreed with Einstein: nothing can go faster than the speed of light. But in 2012, an international team of scientists shocked the world by announcing that they found something that did go faster than light.
These researchers measured particles called neutrinos as they traveled from a laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland to another facility 800 km (500 miles) away in Gran Sasso, Italy. These neutrinos are smaller than atoms, and for years physicists have assumed that they traveled at the speed of light. But these neutrinos arrived 60 nanoseconds faster than light takes to go the same distance. A nanosecond is one-billionth of a second, so the difference is very small. But it is still faster than light. That tiny fraction of a second is enough to make lots of physicists have to rethink what they know about how the universe works.
Smith, Greg Leitich. Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo. 2003. 192p. Little, Brown, $15.95 (0-316-77854-0); paper, $6.99 (0-316-01181-9). Gr. 5–8. In this hilarious story, three best friends from a Chicago magnet school enter the science fair. One student tries to teach piranhas to prefer bananas, while the other two copy an experiment in which plants grow better when exposed to baroque music—only to discover that the original results are wrong. The companion volume, Tofu and T. Rex (Little, Brown, 2005), features two cousins—one a militant vegan and the other a budding paleontologist—whose grandfather owns a butcher shop.
Super Gelatin - Students measure the angles of refraction of laser light traveling through gelatin, then plot their data to calculate the gelatin’s index of refraction http://stardate.org/teachers/plans/super-gelatin
Title: Was Einstein Wrong?
Content Area(s): Physical ScienceTopic: Speed of light
Short description: Scientists at an international research facility in Switzerland found that neutrinos can travel between two points 60 billionths of a second faster than light.
Claim: Neutrinos may travel faster than light.
Keywords: neutrino, speed of light
Difficulty of Concept: Hard
Reading Level (Pit Stop 8 Article):
Flesch Reading Ease: 49.2Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 11.1
Lexile: 1070
Next Generation Science Standards:
MS-ETS1 Engineering DesignMS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/LiteracyRST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations descriptions.
RST.6-8.8 Distinguish among facts and reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational text to support analysis, reflection and research.
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions(one-on-one, in groups, teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Vocabulary Words: nanosecond
Topic of Game Introduction Video: Theory
Description/Application of Game Introduction Video:
This brief movie is used to introduce the concept of the amount of evidence needed to support a claim before playing the scenario about Einstein's theory concerning the speed of light in the Reason Racer game. Evidence is generally thought to be information that supports or refutes a claim or statement. It is a component of scientific argumentation and usually involves use of facts, opinions, data and theories to support a claim. It requires students to carefully consider what information is provided when making a decision about accepting or rejecting a claim. Students could discuss how facts, opinions, data and theories differ and how they can be used best in support of a claim.
Link to Game Introduction Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUv5JqiLQWs
Full Text of Article:
In 1905, Albert Einstein suggested that the speed of light was a limit that nothing in the universe could ever exceed. For over a century, all scientific experiments and observations have agreed with Einstein: nothing can go faster than the speed of light. But in 2012, an international team of scientists shocked the world by announcing that they found something that did go faster than light.These researchers measured particles called neutrinos as they traveled from a laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland to another facility 800 km (500 miles) away in Gran Sasso, Italy. These neutrinos are smaller than atoms, and for years physicists have assumed that they traveled at the speed of light. But these neutrinos arrived 60 nanoseconds faster than light takes to go the same distance. A nanosecond is one-billionth of a second, so the difference is very small. But it is still faster than light. That tiny fraction of a second is enough to make lots of physicists have to rethink what they know about how the universe works.
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Additional Content:
Author: Kathy Carlsen